Utterly Mad

Name: Hellerites
Designation: Sentient bipedal
Homeworld: Sentinel system
Language: Hellerite in every day use, an approximation of galactic basic in ceremonial use, though it is generally a meaningless collection of words and syllables rather than a true language.
Average height of adults: 6"8
Skin color: Varies
Hair color: Varies
Breathes: Air-like atmospheres

Strengths:

The strength of dogmatic convictions, physically large, generally a brave, noble society.

Weaknesses:

Complete lack of understanding of technology, their own or that of others.

Distinctions:

Physically, the Hellerites vaguely resemble exceptionally large, bipedal non-feathered Terran avians, but testing reveals that they likely descended from the Sentinel system's equivalent of a large amphibian or warm-blooded reptile.

Average Lifespan: 45 years (Terran Standard)

Races: Both planets consist of genetically similar inhabitants, with slight variations due to thousands of years of seperation. Most tangible differences are found in cultural traditions and social structure.

Estimated Population: No census has been completed, but it is likely there are at least 5-15 million members of the species currently alive.

Diet: Omnivorous.

Communication: Verbal. Examples of written language exist, but it appears that current usage is ceremonial, and that the writing is not actually understood by any encountered members of this species.

Culture: What cultural norms were in place before first contact with humanity are something of a mystery, simply because of the profound changes this contact had on Hellerite society. It is supposed that they likely practised some form of ancestor worship, venerating barely recognisable remnants of past technologies and otherwise living a relatively nomadic tribal lifestyle.

However, whether or  not this was the case is fairly irrelevant. While humanity's explorations onto the planets were initially met with guarded hostility, mankind's use of no more than the standard devices found amongst interstellar travellers in the Hellerite's presence caused a massive shift in attitude. Sensing this change, the first visitors to the planet began to perform social experiments on the Hellerites, and it quickly became apparent that the species had begun to regard them as some form of demi-god. To the explorers of Oros, this soon became a simple, irrelevant fact of life, and the locals were generally ignored while the expedition went about assessing the planet's mineral wealth. On Neros, however, some of the Terrans present sought to capitalise on this discovery, happily assuming the role of deity.

Both courses of action were, in the end, disastrous to Hellerite society. The residents of Oros seemed to completely disregard their previous traditions, instead choosing to emulate the humans, typically in ways a civilised being would recognise as absurd. Seeing a Terran use a computer to communicate with another location, for example, would often result in the observing Hellerite attempting to craft his own system with primitive materials such as wood and stone. Watching the expeditionary settlements receive orbital drops would cause previously warring tribes to band together to create exact replicas of a landing site, and follow the standard proceedures for a supply drop almost religiously, speaking into home crafted "communicators" and preparing for unloading, as though it were a summoning ritual which they believed would also bring them great wealth. As little of exploitable value was found on the planet, the expedition eventually departed, but the Hellerite imitations have persisted to this day. Most recent reports indicate they have extrapolated on this, constructing whole towns in crude approximations of the expedition camps, and repeating their new "rituals" regularly.

The residents of Neos eventually had a different reaction to the outsiders. Though still apparently considering them to be god-like, the cruelty of many of the expedition members eventually caused a paradigm shift amongst the Hellerite there, causing a massive uprising of the locals against their new gods. Several expedition members, and many Hellerites died over the course of several weeks, before the Terrans decided there was simply nothing of worth on the planet. After their departure, the residents of Neos reverted to an utterly hostile reaction to any further contact attempts, though their new society seems geared towards imitating the military doctrines of the Terrans rather than the technological, and most observers report massive mock wars being constantly fought with sticks and hides standing in for weapons and uniforms. This too seems to have some religious connotation for the Hellerites, as they are certainly capable of producing primitive weapons with which to actually harm eachother, but the implication seems to be that keeping up these "war games" will discourage the gods from returning, rather than bringing them back.

While it would seem unlikely that the residents of both planets could undergo global social transformations, with long distance communication being so limited, the previously migratory nature of the Hellerite has caused this phenomena to spread rapidly. For whatever reason, the Hellerite seem to have no issue embracing this copycat logic as a species, and so even those who have never encountered humanity first hand appear to follow the new cultural norm, though they are really imitating the imitators.

Technology level: At on point, it would appear as though the Hellerites had technology roughly equivalent to that of humanity's current level. At present, though they may try to replicate this level of advancement in a ceremonial, cosmetic fashion, they seem unable to grasp why their devices do not function or, possibly, even realize this is the case, and accordingly are stuck at a roughly agricultural level of tech.

The singular area in which they display an aptitude above their general level of knowledge is in astronomy. While it can be logically extrapolated that they may not understand the true nature of celestial bodies, both societies keep surprisingly accurate calendars and star charts, and appear to keenly observe any changes in the sky, such as those caused by passing ships.

General behaviour:

See culture section for the most notable behaviours.

History:

Little is known of their past history, as most researchers with genuine curiosity into their past way of life are equally concerned with further damaging the present, and those who would typically be motivated by profit have long realised there is none to be made here.

Once capable of travelling the stars, some unpleasant event caused the Hellerites to revert to a semi-tribal state long ago. While the occasional ruin of a city or technological marvel dots the landscape of their twin ocean worlds of Oros and Neros, they have long since forgotten what these things are, and appear to look opon them as holy relics left by the Gods rather than devices created by their own species in the distant past.

Though few concrete indicators as to what caused this event have been found, archaeological evidence, and genetic damage present in both population samples, would seem to indicate it is the result of a biological weapon used in a civil war eons past.

Notable Player-Characters:

Intent: To summon the gods, or keep them away.

Company Name: Terran News Network
Intent: Keeping you informed, galaxywide
Location: Headquartered on Terra, but with affiliates wherever there's a story.
Affiliation: Terrans, generally
Worth: Whatever advertising revenue they can pull, plus the occasional "donation"


Description & History:

The advent of FTL travel was an exciting time for humanity, with a whole galaxy of possibilities opened up to them, and countless new things to see and experience. With it came faster than light communication, but for a brief time, there was a void of readily available information and news accessable by the average, unaffiliated citizen of rapidly expanding Terran collection of systems. TNN, an amalgamation of the largest of the pre-existing media companies, stepped in to fill this void, and did so at a perfect time to capitalise on it.

While they are far from the only pan-galactic media company in existence, they are, without a doubt, the most successful, and possibly the only one that is present literally anywhere humanity is to be found - it is jokingly said that their reporters, broadcasters, and other affiliates usually arrive at a new colony before the colonists. This wide-spread presence has allowed them to amass a fair bit of wealth via advertising opportunities. Though many companies may not care how well known their products are on some backwater rimworld, in the competitive marketplace of well-established planets, constant and proper exposure can make a difference between being the vendor of choice, and just another option.

In addition to this, a fair portion of their income is derived from less legitimate sources. As has always been the case, public opinion is often easily led by the way events are presented, and the persistent journalists of TNN have often managed to discover dirty little secrets that could harm a corporation's reputation, or destroy a politician's career. While this occasionally results in the mysterious disappearance of TNN staff, there are always more to take their place despite the potential danger of being a TNN reporter in this brave new galaxy, and many entities have long concluded that it is easier to simply make a "small donation" to the network than it is to silence them with force.

Accusations of partisan espionage and subliminal population direction are, of course, completely unfounded, and the TNN goes to great lengths to combat such claims.

Important People:

Raymond Hurst VII, current CEO.

Products:

Considering advertising with TNN? We have many well-priced ad packages available to our clients in order to find the best possible markets for their quality products! Don't hesitate to sign up today!

Have a story we should know about? Stop in at your local affiliate branch, and there could be a cash reward for you!

((It's a news company, plain and simple.))

Alright, I have never run an RP, but I tried to write a book a few years ago. The idea was really good, but I lost interest in it because I tend to write stuff I'd like to read. I already knew how it ended and had the whole thing written in my head, and basically thought to myself "yeah, that was decent" and never actually bothered to finishing committing words to paper.

But! The general concept keeps popping up in my head and I think it might make an interesting RP. This thread will be fleshed out a little more this evening and tomorrow, if there's interest, but here's the general concept.

---

GENERAL CONCEPT

It's the future, the far, far future. For thousands of years, mankind reached for the stars, using STL sleeper ships. Excitement about the cosmos and what they might hold dominated every aspect of the human culture for a hundred generations as they began to explore the stars. When messages began to trickle back from explorers and new colonies hundreds of years away, it was realized that mankind was alone - while there was plant life to be found throughout the galaxy, and strange beasts here and there, there was no other sentient life anywhere.

This realization struck mankind hard - there was no need for co-operation when there were no outside threats to mankind. There was no need for unity when profit could be made. There was no one else out there, just a universe ripe for the taking. Wars broke out, the global government broke down, and the core regions of human space, namely the solar system, nearly tore itself apart.

Eventually, one faction came to dominate all others, and created the United Terran Authority, claiming control over all of the domains of man. Of course, this in practice was restricted only to the solar system proper, and those colonies who were willing to submit to their control - as FTL travel was not yet obtainable, the UTA had no real way to enforce it's will on the myriad colonies that had sprung up over the course of history. Not only that, but the wars that tore through Terra's solar system also destroyed the records of where most of those colonies might be - mankind has found home on thousands opon thousands of worlds over the march of time, but of these, only hundreds have been located, and even few have been contacted.

Much of this was soon to change. Within eight centuries of humanity's "unification", the UTA announced that they had found a way to move vessels at speeds far exceeding those that anyone had drempt of before. While this technology could be applied to any ship, it was costly to produce, and the knowledge required to do so was so closely guarded and complex that it could almost be considered magic. While fleets of warships, and colony ships, would be equipped with the new warp drives, trade ships, passenger vessels, and other civilian crafts would, for the most part, be left to rely on the warpway network. This network was far simpler to utilize, and consists of large "Gates" that use relatively simple technology to alter the perceptible mass of a vessel and then accelerate it to faster than light speeds. Like a ball launched from a cannon, these ships plow through space until the mass conversion loses hold, then gradually slow to sub light speeds. The UTA has accordingly constructed "corridors" through space with launching stations at regular intervals.

Travelling this way is dangerous - a poor calculation or a malfunction in either the ship or the gate itself can result in ships being launched off course, too slowly, or in some other fashion that leaves them drifting alone in the vast expanse of space, usually with no hope of recovery and no course of action except to make peace with whatever deity the crew follows and wait for the food to run out. It is, however, not quite as dangerous as travelling in a warp capable ship. Besides the chance of becoming terribly lost, warp-ships also run the risk of colliding with previously undetected objects, being subjected to piratical attack, or, as time has proven, simply never re-entering normal space. It takes a bold captain and a brave crew to man these ships.

You are one such person, and you occupy a rare position in within the empire of the UTA - you are a free captain (or one of his trusted advisors). Some how, you or one of your ancestors found yourself in possession of a registered warp ship, not under direct control of the UTA military. Rather than being forced to subject yourself directly to the will of the UTA, you operate under a Warrant of Liberty - your ship and your future is your own, with some conditions attached. This can range from being required to regularly maintain contact with the Fringe Worlds and report happenings there, to supplying new colonies with resources they may require, to participating in military actions or subjugating re-discovered colonies who have not embraced the unity of the UTA. While your situation and possession of the Warrant is not unique, it is not common either, and you could be considered minor nobility if such a thing existed in the UTA.

Your journey starts as such. There is a galaxy to discover, intrigue to pursue, and wealth unimaginable to be found. There are also dangers - rumors of planets outside of the UTA having developed FTL travel abound, and there are many who are not subtle in their jealousy of your station.

Trust no one, and enjoy.

---

[/hr]

So, that's the basic idea - there's a bunch more lore, but it's not worth writing unless someone is interested. Conceptually, and assuming anyone signs up, you will have free reign to do whatever you want, in as much or as little detail as you want. The violence will be very realistic, the science based in something close to 'reality', and, should you chose to follow it, a set storyline with a good twist ending. You can also just fuck off into the vast unknown and see what it holds.

As I said in the rec room thread, this is mechanically based off a greatly simplified version of Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader (the first ed. rulebook for 40K), but with a different if similarly dark universe. I will supply stats for whatever you guys want, but you can ignore all that and let me track shit instead too.

If you'd like to play, there's a couple firm rules:

1. One person is the captain. If everyone wants to be the captain, or no one wants to, then he will be an NPC (your dad or grandfather or something) who does nothing, leaving that up to you guys as the PCs.

2. Actions will ALWAYS have consequences. You wanna fight the UTA alone, that's fine, but expect to die. Some will not be so obvious. Welcome to an RP where the DM overthinks things alot.

3. Char sheets will be up later. There will be a few hard stats which will be adhered to for my sake (much like what AJ has with SPRAWL), but you're pretty much free to make whoever you want so long as it's somewhat feasible according to whatever science looks like in 500,000 years. Beyond the stats, a bonus to the chance your actions have of succeeding depends alot on how RP-ish you are. Extra credit given for you saying *how* you're convincing the local governor to give you access to his personal army rather than saying "I convince the governor to bend over" or whatever. Besides designing a character, there is also a ship to design if you'd like, or I can do that. Don't matter much to me.

4. The mechanics of the game will be obeyed (I'll detail them further if anyone cares, otherwise you can just trust me that they exist), unless I decided to do something completely different with them mid game. I'm new to this and have no idea how simple or detailed they should be to make this fun.

5. As I mentioned, I will supply a story and some quests and shit for you to follow if you want, but the forward movement of the RP will mostly fall on you as a player. If you don't want to follow the story, then you'll have to come up with some other goals and I'll do my best to make that just as interesting.

Think that covers the basics.

((I've shamelessly stolen this idea from something I saw on the Bay 12 forums. The idea is simple - this is a short story driven RP where any actions the character, who is a super badass, takes are fantastically successful, no matter how improbable or absurd. The rules are pretty simple:

1. Anyone can suggest actions. You can also just +1 someone else's suggestion or add to it.
2. Suggestions can be something that would be incredibly implausible in real life, but can't break reality/physics/time - you can't say "We invent an AK-47 and fuck everyone up" or "We punch the side of the giant boat and it sinks while exploding".
3. Try to be a little descriptive in your suggestion. Avoid "We kill everyone" without details. Saying "We throw our stick straight through the enemy's eye, so hard that the force causes it to blow the back of his skull out. Chunks of bone land in the mouth of the guy behind him, and he chokes to death" is perfectly acceptable. You don't need to be SUPER descriptive if you don't want to - I can handle the nitty gritty of it.
4. The mechanics behind everything pretty much boil down to "that's remotely possible, sure" or "no, you can't grow wings and drop cannonballs on everyone from 10,000 feet". If it's even remotely possible, it will succeed somehow.

Besides that, do what you please. I don't really know where the story is going. I'll update at least once a day, whenever it seems like everyone who wants to weigh in has done so.

Here's the original thread, in case I haven't explained it well.))

- Some Time In The Late 1600s, The Caribbean-

Like so many other young men, you were pressed into service aboard an English warship - luckily, you weren't stuck on a leaky tub like some of the more unfortunate souls. You were stationed aboard a fine 3rd rate ship of the line, the Nelson, and for several months you participated in some very lucrative raids against the French and Spanish merchants operating in the area.

Unfortunately, all was not well on the Nelson. Though you steered clear of trouble, the Captain was a strict disciplinarian, and was not well liked by the crew. After a particularly terrible action on his part, the crew rose up in mutiny, killing the Captain and his officers, and seizing the ship. As one of the few to neither support the mutiny or try to stop it, the mutineers decided to throw you into a small launch and set you adrift, rather than execute you.

You drifted for well over a week, finally running out of supplies. Equipped with only a fishing line, a rope, and single oar, it seemed all hope was lost. Suddenly, the wind carried the sound of a ship's bell to your ears, and sails appeared on the horizon. Just as your hopes rose, you noticed a French flag billowing from the ship's mast - a small corvette, fast and reasonably well armed, and likely crewed by 30 or 40 men. It's likely they were tasked with keeping tabs on the Nelson and providing aide to her victims until a stronger fleet could be assembled to deal with her.

It makes straight for your boat, and you can see half a dozen French marines lining up on the deck, muskets ready. As "piracy" and "prisoners of war" aren't overly well-established terms even when payback isn't the first thing on a sailor's mind, it's probable that they will kill you as soon as they come along side, or at best, shortly after interrogating you. The ship is minutes away from you, and you can't possibly row away fast enough or for long enough to escape.

What do you do?

Well, see how this goes I guess.

So, community fort. Far as I can tell, everyone here plays DF and is familiar with the concept. I guess the questions would be:

ANSWERED FOOL!

KOBOLD KAMP!

KK is a clever conversion-y style mod made by our own Random Dragon. Rather than having a fort full of drunk, industrious, deadly dwarves, you get to play with a fort full of mostly-sober, surprisingly industrious, and Boldy dangerous Kobolds. It's also full of clever little Utterly Mad references, from the civilization symbol to statues.

Rules:

1. No intentionally killing everyone unless the other players agree.
2. No just completely walling off the fort as the main form of defense - if all else is lost, sure.
3. Turns last one year.
4. Please try to squish your updates into a couple of posts so that I don't have to link up a million things when updating this.

Turn order:

1. Random Dragon - Founding of the Kamp. An excellent reign tempered by reason and good design. 1,2,3
2. Salt Mummy - The bones say shaman leads. Makes temple. Hunts pigs. Kick badger. Much crafts. Good leader.1,2,3,4,5,6
3. Apathetic Excuse - THE WARMASTER RULES! Much bluster, as effective of a secret weapon as you can have without mechanics. 1,2,3,4
4. Caconym - Short turn, some wall building, the population grows.  1
5. Random Dragon - Fixing our defensive "fixes", redesigning our "designs". Another year of sensible rule to make sure the rest of us don't get the fort killed during our turns. Also, our first real siege. No lions involved. Turns out bolds are badasses. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 - SO MANY POSTS. About a fifth of which I've skipped. But here's the important ones.
6. Salt Mummy - The shaman rules again. Half the fort dies because of Mr. Ed. Shame we have a shaman and not a lich. Several great beasts show up - Bolds are truely badass! Also builds the coolest zoo ever. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,A note on the zoo, incase you can't see how awesome it is, and Salt's save if you want to see it yourself - ALSO SO MANY POSTS. Geeze, fellas.
6a. Warmaster story thing
7. Apathetic Excuse - What a lazy fucker, skipping his turn.